Former Congressman Steve LaTourette, who is now working as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. and heading a group supporting moderate GOP candidates, will speak at the Hudson Library & Historical Society Monday night.

LaTourette, a member of Congress for 18 years, is president of both McDonald Hopkins Government Strategies, a lobbying group, and Main Street Partnership, an organization providing financial support for moderate Congressional candidates, especially those targeted by tea party challengers. He has recently appeared on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Larry King and been featured in the New York Times.

FreedomWorks, a national group affliliated with the tea party, will hold a rally to unseat U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce Thursday.

Adam Brandon, FreedomWorks' executive vice president, will attend the rally, along with a coalition of Northeast Ohio conservative groups and will make an announcement regarding the 14th Congressional District race, according to a news release.

Akron City Council was mentioned in a New York Times editorial over the weekend that blasted Ohio and other states for legislation that cuts back on early voting.

The Times highlighted recent legislation adopted in Ohio that reduced the early voting period and limited who can mail absentee applications, saying these measures in Ohio and other states seek to give Republicans an advantage in upcoming elections and hurt Democratic voters, particularly those who are minorities and low-income.

Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic and Akron Superintendent David James are in Washington, D.C. for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and U.S. Conference of Mayors' Mayors in Education Convening.

As part of Friday's activities, Plusquellic, James and the other participants will spend an hour with Bill Gates, discussing opportunities to champion education by supporting high academic standards and great teachers.

Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic talks taxes and schools and gives his advice for the next Ohio governor in an interview with a Cleveland-based think tank.

"Governor, whoever you are, look at what it is that young people need to get a job in the future, and match up those resources in the most efficient and effective way you can to carry that out," Plusquellic advises the next governor in the interview with Center for Community Solutions.

Two communities, one in Wisconsion and another in North Carolina, are financially supporting local newspapers to maintain a journalistic presence, according to an article this week in Columbia Journalism Review.

Elected officials in Fitchburg, a suburb of Madison, Wisc., decided to provide $30,000 to restart the presses of the Fitchburg Star, which had stopped printing five years ago. Free monthly copies of the Star will be sent to every business and residence in the town for the rest of this year.

Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder received the John M. Ashbrook award today at the Conservative Political Action Conference for his work to uphold the ideals of limited constitutional government.

The award is named after former Ohio Congressman John Ashbrook, who co-founded the American Conservative Union. Previous recipients included U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and late President Ronald Reagan.

Akron City Council passed a resolution this week objecting to two state early voting laws and urging the Ohio Democratic Party to challenge them in federal court.

The laws, recently adopted by the legislature and signed by Gov. John Kasich, reduce the early voting period -- getting rid of the period when people can both register and cast an absentee ballot -- and limit who can mail absentee ballot applications.